Gravedigger
by Unohtaa
Summary: Humanity is subjective. Plucking one leaf on one branch on the tree of prejudice has no effect on its roots. - The Quinx squad heads to China to take over a case regarding a peculiar ghoul. - Complete {Sequel coming soon.}
1. Part 1

_Gravedigger_

 ** _{Two-Shot}_**

Haise dragged himself into the chateau, falling against the door with a sigh as he closed it behind him. He stared defeatedly at the files held loosely in his hands, resigning himself to another sleepless night of reading.

"Oh, Sassan, you're home?" Haise looked up at the sound of Shirazu's voice. He removed his shoes and moved into the living room. Shirazu stared at him from his position on the couch, head hanging back over the side so he watched him upside-down. Saiko sat on another couch, playing a game on one of her handheld devices. Urie and Mutsuki were nowhere to be found.

"Hey Shirazu, Saiko." Haise called, irritated by how tired his voice sounded. It was just past eight o'clock. He wasn't going to survive the night at this rate. "Have you guys had dinner yet?" Haise didn't really feel like cooking, but he needed to provide for his subordinates.

Shirazu seemed to see how tired Haise was, because he hesitated before saying anything. "Eh, no, but we can figure something out. You should go to bed, or something. . ."

"Yeah, packet ramen!" Saiko sang, not looking up from her game. Shirazu looked less enthusiastic.

Haise was reluctant to leave them to fend for themselves, but the paperwork in his hands weighed heavier than his conscience and eventually he bid them goodnight. He passed Mutsuki on the stairs and exchanged greetings. After a seemingly endless journey, he made it to his room and pushed the door closed. He collapsed into his chair and spun to face his desk, shoving his glasses on and immediately launching into his work. The sooner he started, the sooner he would finish.

The first page was a letter, explaining how he and his team were to be drafted to China for a particularly peculiar case requiring their field of expertise. Haise translated this as: "We need someone who can think like a ghoul to locate and take down this deviant." Haise had already read this, so he flipped the page and got into the ghoul files.

The profile was titled "Gravedigger," with no picture of a face, mask, or even clothing. The sex was unknown. The RC type was listed as "likely koukaku, possibly bikaku." The ranking was "C~". Haise frowned at this. Why would a ghoul of this ranking require a team to be imported from Japan?

"'C~ rated ghoul ' _Gravedigger_ ' is a Chinese ghoul characterized by the unique desire to dig up and devour corpses. Because fresher bodies are typically preferred by ghouls, this behavior may be an act of desperation. ' _Gravedigger_ ' has not shown aggression towards the living, likely out of weakness. Because so little is known about this ghoul, the rating has been left at C~ as added information might raise the ranking.'" Haise read the passage under his breath, spinning slowly in his chair.

"This seems too easy," Haise muttered. "They just don't know what he's thinking is the problem. They think I would know better because I'm—I'm. . . I'm me." Haise sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose from under his glasses. "Well, I can't imagine he's eating stiff corpses for fun. He's probably just really weak, like they said, and can't establish sufficient hunting territory."

He read through the notes again then moved on to the page describing Gravedigger's appearances. A few pictures of graveyards were clipped to the paper. Haise flipped through them, then set them aside on his desk. Pulling out a sticky note from his drawer, he scribbled some notes down with a pen and posted it next to the paper clipped pictures. He kept reading.

Minutes passed, accumulating to an hour. Haise made note of the major details: the kagune marks suggested a koukaku or bikaku RC type, the remnants of the body were usually reburied (except for one instance in which Gravedigger had been caught and had to leave in a hurry), the gravestone was never touched. There didn't appear to be any correlation between the bodies. That wasn't unusual—it was part of what made investigating a ghoul's identity so difficult—but Haise felt there was a detail being left out. He took note of the assaulted graves and put it with the others. He would investigate it later.

Haise finished reading the files at ten o' three. Before he engrossed himself in research, he pushed his chair away from the desk and set his glasses down, stretching his limbs to their limit. He got to his feet and left his room, checking for a light downstairs. It was dark. The others must have gone to bed.

He padded slowly down the hallway, careful not to step on any creaky floorboards. Haise smiled. He knew one person who would need extra probing before they got to bed. Knocking on her door before he entered, he poked his head inside when there was no reply.

"Saiko," he sang quietly into the dark room, illuminated only by the light from the handheld device in her hands. "Time for bed!"

"Hmmm, Maman. . ." Saiko complained as she folded the device shut and stored it under her pillow. "G'night."

"Goodnight," Haise replied. "Make sure you do get some sleep, okay? We have work tomorrow and I need you to come with us."

Saiko groaned, but promised she would try and fall asleep quickly. Haise closed the door and headed back to his room, suppressing his guilt at needing Saiko along. Yes, it was her job, but it wasn't the job she had wanted. He did his best to give her leeway, but there was a limit to what he could and couldn't do. Maybe he would make it up to her by buying her an ice cream.

Haise sat back down at his desk, feeling more awake now that he had blood flowing through his body again. So far, the Gravedigger case wasn't looking so difficult. His team could handle this. Nevertheless, he committed another hour to extra reading.

—

The Quinx Squad met at the dining room table for breakfast the next morning. Haise served each person a specialized omelet, smiling and handing out greetings before taking a seat at the head of the table. The others gave him their attention as they ate quietly.

"We've been assigned a new mission," Haise announced, holding the files up pointedly. Urie suddenly seemed much more interested. Haise went on, "It's the Gravedigger case that Division II was debating about."

"I heard about that one," Mutsuki spoke up after swallowing his mouthful of food. "Kuroiwa said Division II couldn't even decide on an RC type."

Haise nodded. "It's listed as either a koukaku or bikaku in the files."

"Couldn't it be a duel-kagune type ghoul, if the evidence leans either way?" Urie suggested.

Haise shook his head. "I don't think that's the case here. The kagune marks were consistent. The problem here is that the kagune isn't being used to fight—it's being used to dig. We haven't seen this behavior before, so it's only natural that the marks would vary from what we're familiar with."

"Isn't that case taking place out in China?" Shirazu inquired. "Does this mean we're going to China?"

Haise sighed. "Yes, we are. Sorry, I know this is out of no where."

Shirazu shrugged. "Eh, not much we can do about it."

Saiko hummed happily. "China has a really good online gaming market."

"I'm glad you've both got positive outlooks on this," Haise smiled. "Now, our flight leaves in a couple of days, so we'll have to be fully packed by then. For now, I'd like to go over a few more things about the case, if that's alright.

"Gravedigger is a C~ rated ghoul, so he doesn't pose much of a threat on his own. The trouble here is catching him, so we're gonna need to—"

"Why would we be assigned such a weak ghoul?" Urie protested, irritation evident in his voice. Shirazu glared at him.

"Oi, don't interrupt Sassan while he's explaining the mission!"

Urie glared back, preparing a retort, but Haise continued before any more comments could be made. "The tilde means that Gravedigger's rating could be raised as more information is gathered. No one's encountered him in battle yet, so we can only make assumptions based on his timid behavior."

Mutsuki raised his hand for permission to speak. "What do we know so far about Gravedigger?"

Haise referred to his notes to refresh himself briefly. "He digs up corpses in graveyards, eats small pieces and then buries the corpse again. He never touches the gravestone and only left the corpse out in the open once."

"Why'd he leave one unburied?" Shirazu questioned, his mouth full of egg and hot sauce.

"That night was the first sighting of Gravedigger," Haise explained. "He was caught eating the corpse by one of the cemetery workers, so he fled before cleaning up after himself."

Mutsuki considered this for a moment. "Do you think Gravedigger could be a female ghoul?" He suggested. "Female ghouls are usually less open about their eating, so it could be possible that this shy behavior is a result of that?"

"Girls don't like to be interrupted," Saiko agreed. For some inexplicable reason, Haise felt a shiver run down his spine. He ignored the lightheaded feeling of déjà vu.

"That's a possibility I hadn't considered," Haise admitted. "But let's not make any assumptions. The cemetery worker wasn't the only one who saw Gravedigger. Pedestrians reported seeing a figure in the graveyard on the nights of the robberies, but no one got close enough to pose a threat. So far, Gravedigger hasn't attacked any living person, probably due to a lack of physical capability. The notes say that it's possible that he was wasn't strong enough to establish hunting grounds in his area, but because the grave robberies have only started recently I want to point out that he could be suffering from an illness or physical disability."

"But ghouls can regenerate, so it can't be from a physical injury, right?" Mutsuki pointed out. "Can ghouls even get sick?"

Haise considered this. "I've been sick before, so I don't see why not."

The atmosphere tensed awkwardly. "Y-yeah, but you're half human, so that kind of sets it off, doesn't it?" Mutsuki replied.

Haise shrugged. "My immune system's comparable to a full-ghoul's. Eating human food disrupts the digestive system and weakens a ghoul, so maybe he's been trying to blend into human society and it's hurting him more than he thought?"

"That would make sense," Shirazu agreed. "But couldn't he just throw it all up right after?"

Haise tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "Sometimes, ghouls have trouble getting human food out of their system. It's not very fun, either." He laughed awkwardly. "I—I remember. . ." Suddenly, his smile vanished and his eyes darkened with concentration. A memory floated just out of his reach, a headache forming behind his eyes.

There was a brittle silence encasing the Quinx at Haise's sudden shift in behavior. "Sasaki?" Mutsuki called nervously, thoughts drifting back to the fight with Serpent.

But Haise shook his head and his smile returned. "Sorry," he laughed, bringing his hand to his chin shyly. "I got lost in my thoughts for a minute there."

Mutsuki and Shirazu exchanged skeptical glances, but they didn't say anything.

"Anyway, where was I. . . Oh yeah—Sometimes, ghouls can't get the human food out of their stomachs before the digestive enzymes set to work, and it's a really horrible experience overall. The closest thing I can relate it to is Rank 2 Investigator Densaka's celiac."

"What's that?" Saiko whispered to Shirazu.

"It's a severe gluten allergy," Shirazu replied quietly. "Basically, you can't eat anything delicious like donuts or packet ramen ever or you'll die."

"That's horrible!" Saiko despaired.

"Pay attention!" Shirazu hissed.

"His body can't digest gluten, so it doesn't gain any nutrients and over time can lead to several medical problems. Similarly, a ghoul can't derive nutrients from human food, which can lead to almost identical symptoms."

"That makes sense," Mutsuki agreed. "So that means that Gravedigger could be stronger than the rating says, but he's just weak from eating human food?"

"That's one hypothesis, yes." Haise confirmed. "We can't be sure if that's the cause until we catch him. It just means we'll have to be cautious about how we approach him."

"So, we know he haunts graveyards. Anything else?" Shirazu poked Saiko in the side to get her to look up from her phone.

Haise flipped through some of the files. "Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pattern connecting the graveyards or the victims. He seems to be acting according to convenience." He stopped flipping through the files to examine one, turning it over and reading the back after finding nothing on the front. "They said there wasn't much about him, but there's actually a decent amount of information on this ghoul compared to others we've investigated."

"It sounds like a lot of it is a result of independent investigation, though." Mutsuki replied. "Don't give Division II all the credit, Sasaki."

Haise waved the praise away with an appreciative smile. "No, it was definitely mostly them. I'm just adding some points from a ghoul's perspective."

"Maybe we should interview the cemetery worker," Urie interrupted, "or look for other people who might have seen him while walking past a graveyard."

Haise nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. The cemetery worker should be our first stop, as soon as we get to China." He yawned and stretched in his chair. "Alright, that's it for today's meeting. Everyone finish your breakfasts and get ready for the trip."

Shirazu sighed as he picked at his food. "This wouldn't happen if they just cremated their dead like normal people."

—

That afternoon, Haise was just heading out to lunch when he heard his own name echo off the halls of the CCG. He turned around and smiled, recognizing Juuzou's voice. The Special Class investigator waved, followed closely by Rank 1 Abara Hanbee.

"Juuzou! How good to see you. I'm sorry I didn't know you were coming, I would have prepared snacks!" Haise scratched at his cheek apologetically. "What are you doing in the 1st Ward?"

Abara answered for him, his right hand crossing over his heart in an almost reflexive gesture of politeness. "We came to directly drop off some papers regarding the Auction case," he explained. "We had to redo them after they got lost in the transfer and we didn't want the same accident occurring twice."

Haise rubbed the back of his neck. "That's terrible. I hope you had no trouble recalling all of the information."

"Admittedly, the hardest part was getting Suzuya to cooperate." Abara confessed.

"We wouldn't have had to do it if they could do their jobs right," Juuzou mumbled.

"Ah, I see," Haise laughed.

"Tooru told me you and the Quinx are going to China for the Gravedigger case," Juuzou mentioned suddenly. "Because the investigators there can't do their jobs correctly either."

"Ah, you heard about that?" Haise nodded. "We are, but I think they just need a different outlook on the case. They're having trouble catching such a low-class, careless ghoul that it makes me wonder. . ."

Juuzou hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe he's lucky, then, or just does what he can to get by and stays undercover the rest of the time."

Haise shrugged. "I think it's his methods that get them—it's strange that he reburies the bodies after he takes what he can."

"I don't think it's that strange," Juuzou disagreed, continuing to walk.

"What do you mean?"

Juuzou looked up at Haise, a flicker of something old and dark resurfacing in his eyes for a split second and sending a chill down Haise's spine. "Ghouls have a conscious just like humans. They're not just animals who're focused only on their next meal." He stretched his arms over his head and broke eye contact with Haise. "Of course, every ghoul is different. They're similar to humans in more than just appearance. You of all people should understand that," he added with a smile.

Haise said nothing. Of course he understood what Juuzou was getting at. He had always viewed ghouls more. . . humanely than the rest of the CCG—than the rest of humanity. However, he expected that full ghouls, ghouls born and not artificially made, understood their place in this world, and would waste no time when it came to fighting for their survival. Even if Juuzou said they were more human than most would think, that still made them nothing more than animals. Humanity was nothing more than a standard set by other animals, based on philanthropy and emotion. The way ghouls were treated, why should they want to meet such a standard?

Of course ghouls felt emotion—Haise understood that more than anybody. But he was only half ghoul. The CCG treated him like a human, so that must mean he presented some characteristic not shared by any other ghoul. He was biologically more human than them. Haise had never (in his current memory) been close enough to a real ghoul to discern what made them different, or what made them the same, and despite his sincerest desires to understand how they thought, how they felt, it was absurd to him that they would feel anything towards their prey. Investigators, real humans, rarely felt compassion towards ghouls, so how could the real predators look at them any different? Yes, they felt emotion, but like a lion chases a zebra colt, a ghoul would not hesitate to kill a human if it were hungry.

Perhaps that was what made this case so interesting.

"Goodbye Haise! See you around!" Juuzou called, waving as he turned down a different hallway, Abara following close behind.

Haise was pulled from his thoughts by the words of his superior. He smiled and waved back. "See you around," he echoed.

 _ **{End of Part One}**_


	2. Part 2

—

 _ **{Part 2}**_

They caught him on a day off. Heng Ai had intended to spend his free time catching up on all of the recordings he had piled up on his television and eating a home-cooked meal prepared by his daughter, but someone else had other plans.

There was a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" His daughter called, wiping her hands off on her apron. Ai turned his attention back to the television, vaguely listening to the conversation happening at the door.

"Please wait here a moment," his daughter asked the visitors before poking her head back into the living room. "Father, there are some CCG officials here to see you." She looked slightly flustered, just like Ai felt.

"Let them inside," Ai commanded, turning off his television and heading into his room to throw on some more appropriate clothes. "Tell them I'll only be a moment. Make sure you take care of the food," he added over his shoulder.

She nodded and bustled back to the door. Ai disappeared into his bedroom, knowing it had only been a matter of time before they showed up at his door.

—

Sasaki Haise led Mutsuki and Urie into the apartment, excusing himself as he stepped into someone else's living space. The place wasn't very large, but it was clean and organized and smelled very nice. Haise resisted a smile at the aroma—it tugged at a nostalgic string of his subconscious, but didn't shoot pain through his skull. It was barely detectable beneath the air freshener, so Haise couldn't place it, but he felt reluctant to leave the building after he had smelled it.

Heng Xin, daughter of Heng Ai, apologized for the wait and explained that her father would only be a minute. She offered to prepare food or drink for them. Haise turned her down, thanking her.

Haise, Urie and Mutsuki took a seat in the living room, sitting on the couch across from the armchair. Heng Xin hurried back to the kitchen.

Haise smiled over at his subordinates. Urie had his headphones in as they waited. Mutsuki looked strangely uncomfortable, but Haise dismissed it as anxiety. "Don't worry, we'll be in and out as soon as we get our information." He assured the two. Mutsuki nodded and tapped his pen against his notepad.

Minutes later, Heng Ai reentered the room, apologizing for keeping them waiting. He took a seat in the armchair and laced his fingers together. "How can I help you gentlemen today?"

Haise smiled. His Chinese wasn't perfect, but he made due with what he could. "Sorry for invading your home on such short notice, but we're investigating a case we think you can help us with. You see—" He was interrupted by a clattering from the kitchen.

"I'm sorry!" Heng Xin's faint voice called.

"Don't worry about it!" Her father replied. "Sorry, sir, please carry on."

"Oh, sorry, please call me Sasaki Haise." Haise extended his hand for a shake, noticing his failure to introduce himself. Ai shook his hand firmly. "These are my subordinates, Mutsuki Tooru and Urie Kuki." Urie took his headphones out and the two shook hands with Heng in turn.

"Good to meet you. I'm Heng Ai," Heng said.

"Now," Haise started again. "You work at the cemetery down the road, is that correct?" Heng nodded. "And you reported seeing a ghoul eating one of the corpses at your cemetery?"

Heng nodded. "Yes, it was quite strange. If anything, I would describe it as surreal and very terrifying. I've never seen a ghoul so close before, but as soon as it saw me, it ran. I was sure it was going to eat me, but instead it just vanished."

Haise nodded as Heng told his story. "Did you happen to see the kagune? Or, erm, the limb extending from its back? Can you tell us where on the back it came from?"

Heng thought for a moment. "I believe it was around the upper back, but it was dark so I can't say for sure."

Haise translated quietly for Mutsuki, who nodded and scribbled down a note on his paper.

"So we can assume it was a koukaku, based on your report and the kagune marks around the scene. Can you recall anything about the corpse, like what parts were eaten or its condition when you found it?"

Heng seemed to be straining his memory, for which Haise was grateful. It wasn't often the CCG found a witness so willing to tell his tale. Then again, Heng worked with the dead for a living. He probably wasn't too squeamish. "When I walked up to the corpse," Heng continued slowly, as if recalling the memory as he went along, "it was surprisingly intact, minus a missing leg. It had been cut open with something, but its organs were still there. Well, let me elaborate: this was a recently deceased corpse and the organs had already begun to liquify, but whatever was left hadn't been touched by the ghoul." Haise nodded at Mutsuki. "The head was severed and thrown back into the pit, but other than that only the limbs were touched."

"I see," Haise replied, thinking up another question while Mutsuki took rapid notes. Urie spoke up before Haise could.

"How long had the body been buried?" He asked. Haise raised an eyebrow. They knew how long the person had been dead, based on the information on the gravestone. He translated anyway.

"Only about a month," Heng replied.

"Was it buried in a coffin?"

"Yes."

"Alright," Urie conceded. There was a hesitant silence following the exchange, but Haise was determined to ignore it.

"We can assume he's weak, based on his fear of confrontation." Haise reasoned. "He cut the head off, often seen as a psychological assertion of dominance or self-reassurance. He might be a ghoul with a complex, then."

Heng shifted in his seat. "You certainly have a deep understanding of how ghouls work, Investigator Sasaki." He commented, eyes shifting to the kitchen for a moment before refocusing on the investigator across from him.

Sasaki smiled. "It's my job to analyze the patterns in ghouls' actions. I just want to assure public safety."

Heng sighed. "That's good to hear. I'm glad you're all here to do your jobs." His smile turned a bit sad. "My late wife also worked with investigators, and she was around ghouls quite often. I'm sorry to say that it's not uncommon for there to be casualties when it comes to your line of work." Despite his somber expression, Haise felt something strangely akin to bitterness as Heng said, "I wish you the best of luck on this case, Investigator."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Haise expressed. "No one should ever have to suffer like that. We'll do our best to see that this ghoul is stopped."

Heng smiled at Haise, then in the direction of the kitchen where Xin stood, watching sadly. "Thank you."

After a few more questions regarding the locations of various nearby graveyards, Haise, Mutsuki and Urie took their leave. The minute they stepped out of the apartment, Mutsuki looked obviously relieved. Haise chuckled.

"What's the matter, Mutsuki?" he asked. "Don't tell me you hate interviews _that_ much."

Instead of laughing like Haise thought he would, Mutsuki frowned up at Haise. "No, it's just that—I don't mean to be rude, but. . . They're apartment smelled. . . Really terrible, underneath all of that air freshener. Like old meat."

Haise's expression fell. "Are you sure, Mutsuki? I thought it smelled. . . homey." He felt a chill settle between his shoulders at the horrified look that crossed his subordinate's face. He knew all three of them were thinking the same thing.

". . .That doesn't mean anything." He lied. "Let's focus on our own case. We can file concerns later."

Urie looked like he wanted to argue, but Haise hurried away before he could say anything. Urie scowled. He could just take care of this himself later on.

—

The Chinese branch of the CCG welcomed the Quinx into their headquarters eagerly. There was a rush of greetings, so fast and so numerous that Haise had trouble translating all of them. Mutsuki and Shirazu looked overwhelmed the moment they stepped inside, but Saiko seemed to be taking it all in stride. She'd probably played many Chinese games anyway (Haise swore they received a new package every month). Urie didn't seem to care.

They met with the investigators initially assigned to the case, Associate Special Class Ho Hung and his subordinate Rank 2 Hui Ju-long. Fortunately, both of them spoke rough Japanese, making it easier for the Quinx to communicate (though Haise apologized for their lack of preparation anyway).

"It's very rare that we get investigators from the Japanese division around here," Ho Hung confessed as they took their seats around the meeting table. "It's always good to have fresh minds on an old case."

The Quinx got settled, papers shuffling and uniforms rustling, the care of each speaking volumes of their personalities. Haise got the feeling Ho Hung was absorbing every detail he noticed—the crisp folds of Mutsuki's uniform, Shirazu's wrinkled jacket, the almost new quality of Saiko's and the tight knot in Urie's tie. Haise became very conscious of his own attire, of the way his jacket felt just a bit heavier on one side and so slanted just slightly left and how he had yet to iron down the framing of the front pocket so it didn't fold in on itself. Haise felt it was incredibly important to present himself as formally as he could, desperate to prove he was more than a ghoul in a human's skin.

"We're happy to do as much as we can to help," Haise replied automatically, smiling at the other investigators in turn.

The meeting began and progressed as any other, the two groups trading information and exchanging inferences. As time passed, Haise slowly grew to dislike Associate Special Class Ho Hung's intense stare. He felt it lingering on him when the investigator thought he wasn't aware, but if Haise looked up and caught his eye Ho Hung just smiled and returned his gaze to whoever was speaking.

"It's safe to assume this ghoul is acting according to convenience and, as you said, First Class Sasaki, it's very possible he suffers from an ailment or disability based on his sudden spike in peculiar activity." Rank 2 Hui Ju-long summarized, making a few notes in the margins of his already-crowded paper. "Now all that's left is to—"

"Maybe he's just scared," Saiko spoke up, surprising all of them. She hadn't uttered a word throughout the entire meeting, uncharacteristically quiet for someone who daydreamed as frequently as she did.

There was a pause before Hui Ju-long replied hesitantly. ". . .That's what we're saying, yes. He very well may be afraid of being injured during this weakened state, so he's targeting prey that no one wants."

Saiko shook her head. "I don't mean scared like that. I mean like he's afraid to hurt people."

There was another silence. Haise felt tension winding itself throughout the room, coiling around their throats like smoke from a bonfire. Rank 2 Hui Ju-long opened his mouth to speak, but Urie reacted faster.

"Know you're place, Yonebayashi." Was all he said, but it was enough to make Saiko duck her head in embarrassment and mumble an apology.

Associate Special Class Ho Hung clapped suddenly, evaporating the tension with a single action and drawing all attention to himself.

"Anyways, the important thing is that we figure out where he will strike next. Luckily for us, he seems to hang around a certain area, which leaves us with three locations." He addressed a map on the bulletin board behind him. He stood up, red marker in hand, and circled three close-knit locations. "I'm thinking we could each patrol one, maybe divide your squad in two because of your size in order to cover all three. Eventually, he'll show up at one of them, and then all we have to do is attack."

"If we know all of this information, was it really necessary that a team come all the way from Japan?" Mutsuki asked, phrasing his doubt as politely as possible. Ho Hung smiled at him.

"You're squad is notorious for it's special area of expertise." Haise didn't like his smile. It reminded him of the way reptiles smiled: a permanent fixture of thin lips with no real hint of pleasantry. "This case is so peculiar that several higher ups insisted ghoul experts such as yourselves were imported." His gaze might have lingered on Haise, but Haise could only tell from the corners of his eyes.

"We're not necessarily experts," Haise insisted, testing the waters.

"Don't be absurd," denied Ho Hung, perfectly aware. His smile was unwavering.

"I don't like to make assumptions," Haise explained. "I just know what I've been taught."

"I'd love to meet your teachers."

Haise had to stop himself from kicking his chair back and marching out of the room. It wasn't the sort of prejudice he was used to dealing with. It was more curious than malicious, but it irked him nevertheless. Instead, Haise took a deep breath and smiled pleasantly, doing his best to dispel any distress caused by this malevolence.

"That aside, I don't think you needed our help in taking care of this one."

Ho Hung tapped his pen thoughtfully to his paper. "I'm not sure what you do in Japan, but here in China we focus just as much on research as we do on extermination." He flipped his pen over, clicked it, and scribbled some notes as he continued. Haise watched the pen dubiously. "We think that your team's collective abilities will allow us to get a better grip on the situation at hand and help us understand future similar situations, should they arise. After all," Ho Hung met Haise's gaze, setting his pen down lightly. "The more prepared you are for something like this, the less dangerous it becomes, right?"

There was a tense silence in the room after that. It was an accusatory statement. This was normal. Lots of people thought Haise was an abomination of nature and that the Quinx were the same, just government-regulated. It was nice when he met people who had it in them to hand out sympathy, but mostly he was met with disgust. Curiosity, on occasion, but this was a little different. It was both curious and knowing, contempt dripping like venom from Ho Hung's words. This was a man who liked to be three steps ahead, who only asked questions he knew the answer to. He was the type of man Haise hated dealing with, cocky because he could be and more interested in knowledge than public safety. The epitome of this, Haise decided, was that Associate Special Class Ho Hung was more interested in the Quinx than in Gravedigger.

"I assure you," Haise met his eyes coldly, cautiously, "the situation will be dangerous either way.

Ho Hung just smiled.

—

Fog clung to Haise's cheeks and an odd, late-afternoon mist settled in a sparkling sheen over his suit. Concern pooled in his shoes like water; he didn't ever like dividing his team. It wasn't that he didn't trust Shirazu and Saiko to take care of themselves—he just didn't like the idea of something bad happening to them while he was away.

The Quinx had split into two groups, as had been suggested, and Ho Hung and Hui Ju-long had gone off on their own. They were stationed at three different graveyards, the difference in Chinese customs to Japanese ones leering around every stone. It was eerie, knowing bodies decomposed here, empty husks vanished from view. Everyone disappeared like this. How disturbing.

Mutsuki kept glancing around nervously. He looked over his shoulder every minute or so, the feeling of being watched prickling the nape of his neck. Urie glared with increasing irritation until finally he growled, "Cut it out; we're supposed to be 'honoring the dead.'"

"Sorry," Mutsuki mumbled, forcing his head back on straight.

Haise paid less and less attention to the actual mission as they moved. Preoccupied by thoughts nagging at the back of his brain, he found it hard to concentrate enough to maintain paranoia.

 _Juuzou, Heng Ai, Saiko. . ._ These three people forced their way to the forefront of his mind, blocking his sight.

Juuzou had much more history with ghouls than Haise, so it wasn't unexpected that he would have unique views to match his experiences. Juuzou was a bit eccentric at times, but he wasn't naïve. Since Haise had known him (to his memory, at least), Juuzou had always been an upfront, blunt, almost down-to-earth person (again, ignoring his eccentricities). While some people may value respect, Juuzou found it simpler to be honest. He wasn't two-faced like so many investigators Haise had met. For Haise, it was refreshing.

But rumors (that Haise knew the basis of) simultaneously explained and contradicted Juuzou's views on many things, especially ghouls. He saw so much humanity in them. After what ghouls had put him through at such a young age, Haise expected he would harbor resentment, bitterness, or at least wish for vengeance. But Juuzou held no hatred—only an exclusive level of understanding that left Haise confused.

"Let's turn here. We can see the main gate and the eastern entrance from that crossroads," Mutsuki reasoned. Urie nodded.

Heng Ai was a respectable man. He had come off as genuinely kind, a loving father who dearly missed his deceased wife. He was passionate about stopping Gravedigger, something that likely rooted itself in his wife's murder and his desire to protect his daughter. Haise liked to think he was a good judge of character, so he was confident when he assumed Heng Ai was a model citizen.

However, Haise could not ignore all the evidence that suggested otherwise. The way his smile tightened just slightly when he met the investigators' eyes; how his daughter bustled clumsily around in the kitchen as soon as they arrived. The fact that the story of his wife's death felt so genuine despite the careful phrasing, almost as if it could have been taken two ways. The putrid aroma that only Haise found appealing, the one disguised by incense and cheap air freshener that Mutsuki's sharp nose had managed to discern. Haise was willing to accept that Heng Ai might be a ghoul, but his ability to blend into human society was certainly admirable. Haise had trouble believing it was all just an act, that Heng Ai's actual personality was very different from the congenial, welcoming man he'd met in that apartment.

Maybe it didn't have to be.

"It's starting to get darker," Mutsuki commented with only the slightest hint of apprehension.

And Saiko. She seemed to possess some form of empathy towards ghouls. Well, perhaps empathy wasn't quite the right word. It was more of a distorted opinion, if Haise had to label it as anything. She saw ghouls humanely. She could imagine them with more emotion than the primal _eat or die_ characterization they so often portrayed. Or rather, they were so often portrayed as having.

Haise guessed it was his own fault. Saiko had seen the evil that ghouls were capable of, but she'd also seen Haise as a parental figure for such a long time. Maybe he was the one who'd softened her. She couldn't be going around assuming every ghoul was as human as he was.

Haise didn't think ghouls were heartless animals, but he understood the dangers. If the ghoul side of him (that he tried so hard to ignore) was any indication, they could be ruthless and manipulative. He only knew what the CCG showed him, but something told him Kaneki would disagree.

Haise didn't know what to think anymore.

The sun was gone and the moon was out, but for some reason the sky was still clinging to a darkening hue of red. It soaked itself back through the atmosphere, hanging like a suffocating shroud over China.

Static sparked in Haise's ear, startling him from his thoughts. He adjusted the piece a moment before a grainy whisper filtered through the machine.

[" _Sassan,_ "] it was Shirazu, [" _I think we've found our man._ "]

The sky sure was nice. So certain, with the rise and fall of the sun every morning and every evening, yet so uncertain, with its many colors and hues.

[" _He's here._ "]

—

By the time Haise arrived with Mutsuki and Urie, Saiko and Shirazu were already at a standoff with the C~ ranked ghoul _Gravedigger_. Quinques in hand, they stood absolutely still, facing Gravedigger without the slightest nervous tremor to give them away.

Gravedigger had yet to make a move. He wore a dark trench coat and no shoes. A homeless ghoul then, or at least one who had trouble providing for himself. Haise suspected that maybe he wasn't so much ingrained in society as he was acceptably distanced from it.

But then, his theory about human food affecting Gravedigger's ability to fight wouldn't fit, would it? Maybe he really was just weak.

Haise pressed a button on his earpiece. "Associate Special Class Ho Hung and Rank 2 Hui Ju-long, this is First Class Sasaki. We've connected with Gravedigger at sight _B_. What is your current location?"

There was a pause before a reply came with less static than Shirazu's. [" _Rank 2 Sasaki Haise, this is Associate Special Class Ho Hung. We received the call from Rank 2 Shirazu. We'll arrive in fifteen minutes_."]

"Thanks," Haise drew his Quinque. "We can probably be through with him in that time, though."

[" _Remember what I said about interrogation,_ "] Ho Hung reminded him through the earpiece. [" _Get as much information as you can out of him before you dispose of him._ "]

The static crackled in Haise's ear. ". . .Understood."

Gravedigger didn't wear a mask like most ghouls. Haise could easily make out every shadow cast on his face, every micro expression he twitched through, each a subset of fear. He couldn't have been older than nineteen.

"C~ Rank Ghoul _Gravedigger_ ," Haise announced. "You're subject to arrest by the CCG."

Gravedigger's eyes widened wildly. He turned on his heal and nearly tripped over himself trying to get away.

"He's heading for the south exit!" Haise called at the same time Urie yelled, "Don't let him escape!"

They gave chase to the south side of the graveyard, where hardly any grass grew despite the incessant watering by the careful gardeners. They had him surrounded in minutes, Urie blocking the exit while the others took up positions around him. Haise noticed Saiko and Shirazu moved slower than the rest, but thought nothing of it.

"We're taking you in for interrogation," Haise stated. "This isn't up for debate." He figured, with such a young and obviously terrified ghoul, a stern and authoritative tone would be enough to bring him down, but Gravedigger stood his ground. "Surrender," he commanded.

Gravedigger took a step away from him, jolting forward again once he realized backing up would mean taking Urie, who stood behind him. His gaze flashed between the five of them, a kagune slowly forming at his upper back and curling around his arm, the end wedged rather than pointed, Haise noted.

"Surrender," he repeated strongly.

"Like hell," came the retort.

And whether Gravedigger had planned it or not, the next few minutes went very well for him.

Urie whipped around just in time to dodge the rinkaku hurtling at him like a javelin through the air. It crashed into the earth at his feet, kicking up a dust cloud that provided enough distraction for Gravedigger to dash to the left, thrusting Saiko out of his way.

"Go after him!" Shirazu and Saiko nodded, taking off after Gravedigger. Haise turned to face whatever had just appeared. As the dust cleared, his heart stuttered, and he felt the air leave his lungs.

—

Haise hardly breathed. The man only smiled.

—

 ** _{To be finished in the Epilogue}_**


	3. Epilogue

—

 _Tracks for this part:_

 _-[Track 1]: Zankyou no Terror OST "lolol" *Extended_

 _-[Track 2]: Zankyou no Terror OST "Walt"_

 _-[Track 3]: Phildel "The Kiss"_

 _-[Track 4]: Zankyou no Terror OST "ioloi" *different from Track 1_

 _-[Track 5]: Zankyou no Terror OST "ili lolol" *different from Track 1_

 _-[Track 6]: Phildel "Dragonfly Keeper" *the most important_

—

 ** _[Play Track 1]_**

—

 ** _{Epilogue}_**

Saiko and Ginshi gave chase. They pursued Gravedigger to the north exit of the graveyard but lost him once they reached the gate. Ginshi stuttered, but didn't hesitate.

"S-split up! Call me on the headpiece if you find him."

"Roger," Saiko hummed, taking off to the left while Ginshi took to the right.

Investigators were designed to think on their feet. In a ruthless game of survival of the fittest, only the strongest of them remained.

This rule, however, didn't apply to greenhorn Investigators like Ginshi. Newbies like him were lucky to survive. Only prodigies like Arima and Juuzou survived on talent or skill, and even then it was a gamblers game.

Ginshi hoped his luck would hold.

He would never say it out loud, because he was sure everyone experienced it, but when he encountered ghouls, his stomach would coil into twisted knots and his heart would triple its rate. This nervous energy shook his hands and numbed his movements, shivering inside of his bones like a frantic bird clattering in a cage. All he could do was use the adrenaline to keep himself off of death's door.

A sound to his left caught his attention, and Ginshi turned his head quickly to see Gravedigger escaping down a side street. Ginshi followed, almost running into a garbage bin in his haste. He turned corner after corner, weaving after the ghoul that always managed to leave nothing but his coattails in sight.

But Gravedigger either didn't know this part of town as well as Ginshi had thought or he was too frantic to notice where he was going, because soon he was cornered, back against the wall in a one-way alley. He whipped around, eyes wild, and Ginshi only had enough time to send a "Saiko, I have him!" through his earpiece before the _koukaku_ was coming down over his head.

Ginshi ducked to the right, rolling out of the way just as the _koukaku_ cracked the concrete where he'd stood. Ginshi anticipated the next few attacks and dodged every one successfully, letting Gravedigger hit dumpsters and brick walls instead.

When Saiko arrived, he backed off. She appeared beside Ginshi, out of breath but looking determined. They stood at a stalemate, watching each other quietly, both reluctant to attack, but the fear burning in Gravedigger's eyes told them he would not hold for long.

 _Information,_ Ginshi remembered. _We need to get information out of him before we. . ._

And he told himself: it's not an excuse to stall for time.

"C~ Rank ghoul _Gravedigger_ ," Ginshi began formally, his mouth drying up. "We have a few questions we would like you to answer."

Gravedigger didn't look like he wanted to answer questions. But, Ginshi figured, if there was a lifeline offered, if there was something that would keep him just a little further from death, then a person in his situation would take it without hesitation.

"I don't have to answer any of you!" Gravedigger shouted, but he didn't attack.

Ginshi ignored him. "You're hunting tactics, why are they passive? Why do you use them?"

"I don't have to answer you!" Gravedigger replied, gesticulating wildly with his arms as his voice cracked with desperation and building anger.

"Why do you eat buried bodies?" Ginshi yelled over him, his throat constricting around the words and he wished— _he wished_ —they wouldn't come out.

" _I don't want to answer you!_ " Gravedigger screamed, and his fear of himself must have outweighed his fear of the Investigators, because he lurched forward, _kakugan_ reflecting the lone yellow lamplight flickering above them.

—

 ** _[Play Track 2]_**

 _—_

Haise hardly breathed.

His blood prickled, tingling under his skin and raising the hairs on his arms. Of course he'd predicted that Heng Ai was a ghoul, but Haise had hoped he would never have to confront him himself. Now there they were, rooted to the graveyard, eyes locked, quinque and _kagune_ both reflecting the dying red hues of the sky.

Pollution perhaps, Haise figured.

"You're a tricky one to track down, Investigator Sasaki." Heng Ai spoke calmly, as if they were discussing something as minimal as the weather. His _rinkaku_ coiled slowly behind him, moving like an idle snake. Malevolence glinted within each cell, but the movements were subdued, and the man's _kakugan_ held no semblance of pleasure. "But, to your credit, you do have a very specific scent."

Haise's fingers felt like lead as he wrapped them around his briefcase, but his face betrayed nothing. "I'm sorry it has to end like this," he sympathized, drawing his quinque.

"You can reserve your clichés, Investigator." Heng Ai's smile felt genuine. "I knew it would come down to this. That we should end up slain in the streets by the very organisms designed to be our prey—it's the only consistency a ghoul can claim."

His smile was so familiar. Haise was soothed by its softness; he'd seen a smile like that somewhere before. He felt with certainty that he had known someone very similar in his past.

Kaneki stirs.

"I can't very well let you walk freely knowing what you do. At least if I go into it knowing I won't survive," Heng Ai murmured, his smile becoming somber. "Then it takes away the surprise factor. Less restlessness of the soul. Even within the violence I can find a peaceful way to go." His eyes crinkled with soft, suppressed laughter. "The world really is a poet's canvas. I must be getting old."

He spread his hands, turning in a circle to smile at Urie and Mutsuki in turn, both having surrounded him at that point. His smile lost its sadness and he laughed aloud now, a quiet thing that hurt Haise more than any flesh-tearing _kagune_. "How tragically convenient this all is!"

Haise raised Yukimura (1/3), but there was no resolve in the action, only a grim acceptance. "Unranked ghoul Heng Ai," Haise felt words slip past his lips, but he couldn't hear them. "You're subject to execution by the CCG."

Heng Ai only smiled.

—

 ** _[Play Track 3]_**

 _—_

"Papa!"

There was a door to an apartment in eastern Shenyang that a man passed through every morning upon his return from work. He would remove his cap and toss it on the kitchen counter, freeing his hands of his briefcase to scoop his daughter into his arms as she ran to greet him.

"Good morning, sweetheart! Is Mumma still in bed?"

The little girl would say yes, small arms reaching around her father's large frame to encompass as much as they could with their affection, as if she needed to try extra hard to prove herself to the arms that wrapped around her twice with little effort.

"Let's make her some breakfast, then."

"Yeah!"

They would set to work in the kitchen, the cold tile stinging their warm feet. The man's wife would join them about halfway through, roused by the aroma of human flesh. Incense burned strongly in every room, as it always did when they _cooked_.

The adults took their food with a cup of coffee, but the girl made sure she finished her water before she snuck a sip of her father's beverage. He would catch her and scold her lightly and they would laugh, say she had good taste.

Neighbors passed through the door to the apartment in eastern Shenyang often enough to erase suspicion. In the evening the man and his wife would laugh together over coffee. "How could we ever be caught?" they would say, "How could we ever be caught?"

—

 ** _[Play Track 4]_**

 _—_

Ginshi's throat stung as Gravedigger's _kagune_ dug slowly deeper into his flesh, not quite piercing the skin but feeling like it would break the first layer any second. He'd backed himself into a wall and now sat pressed against the freezing brick, painfully still, breath coming in suppressed gasps. He couldn't see Saiko, but Ginshi knew she was nearby, exhausted from the use of her own _kagune_ and unable to save him.

His fingers twitched, the space where his quinque should be despairingly empty. Ginshi's heart rate had climaxed, stirring nausea in his chest and shooting adrenaline through his fingertips and he _shook_ , he trembled where he sat because there was no getting out of this one and _he was going to die._

But his own terrified eyes were reflected in the _kakugan_ before him, and Gravedigger was having a very difficult time finishing him off. Ginshi and the others had been wrong—he could see that now. Gravedigger wasn't weak. He was just afraid.

Ginshi's earpiece crackled. Sasaki's voice filtered through, breathless and resigned. [" _Shirazu, we've taken care of things over here. We're heading toward your location now._ "] He paused, obviously waiting for Ginshi to confirm that he'd heard. When he didn't respond, Sasaki called again, voice sharpening. [" _Shirazu?_ "] The _kagune_ dug deeper. Ginshi choked out a noise of panic. The line went silent.

"That you're leader?" Gravedigger spat, wild eyes flicking to Ginshi's earpiece. He brought his foot down on Ginshi's shoulder, slamming him against the wall. Ginshi grit his teeth. "Tell him you're fine. Call back and tell him you don't need him." Ginshi didn't move. He stared back at Gravedigger, stone-still despite having no room to defy him. " _I said tell him—!_ "

" _Why do you eat buried corpses?!_ " Ginshi interrupted him. Gravedigger looked affronted. Then, outraged. He brought his foot up off of Ginshi's shoulder and slammed it instead into the side of his head. Ginshi tumbled sideways, the concrete of the street tearing up the skin on his right arm. His skull crashed against the stone and his teeth snapped shut, his tongue between them. He tried not to choke.

"Shirazu!" Saiko yelled from somewhere.

" _Stop saying stupid shit!_ " Gravedigger screamed at him.

"It's psychological, right?" Ginshi answered. "You can't kill people on your own, so you find the ones that are already dead!"

" _Shut up!_ " Ginshi was winded by a kick to his abdomen, but Gravedigger's _koukaku_ remained curved over his arm.

He coughed and struggled to gather air into his lungs. "You can't kill people because you're too afraid to hurt someone. You can't kill them because you can't stand yourself!"

" _Shut the fuck up—!_ " Just as a second kick made contact with Ginshi's skull, Gravedigger was thrown to the side by a blazing red _rinkaku_.

—

 ** _[Play Track 5]_**

 _—_

"Shirazu!" Haise called. "Are you alright?"

Haise, Urie and Mutsuki had charged in to find Saiko on her back, catching her breath and unable to move, and Shirazu at the mercy of Gravedigger. Which didn't make sense. Gravedigger must be weak—he'd seemed so scared when they'd arrived. Saiko and Shirazu should be able to handle him.

Urie made a beeline to Gravedigger, who was picking himself up off the floor. Mutsuki followed up behind. They left the ground together with ghoul-like agility, Urie bringing his _koukaku_ down from above while Mutsuki launched himself through the space under him.

Gravedigger's head whipped around to face them, _kakugan_ straining. He drove the tip of his _koukaku_ into the cracked concrete and twisted his body upwards, slamming his heal into Urie's shoulder and dodging Mutsuki's attack. Urie fell sideways but recovered quickly. Mutsuki aimed a sharp attack with his quinque at Gravedigger's _kagune_. It shattered under the force and Gravedigger collapsed with a gasp.

 _That's strange,_ Haise thought, surprised. _It's so brittle for a koukaku._

Gravedigger stood up again, his _kagune_ reformed. He pushed Urie and Mutsuki back with a single, enraged blow.

"Fall back!" Haise called. Surprisingly, both complied. They regrouped.

Mutsuki helped Shirazu to his feet, but he seemed too dazed to stay upright on his own. Mutsuki helped him over to where Saiko lay and sat him down, mumbling questions and holding up fingers. Haise sighed. This night had already been long enough.

Gravedigger regarded them from a distance, the hatred burning in his eyes masking something that lay deeper. He had dirt smeared on his face and mud caked in his hair. As Haise watched, entranced by the slow deterioration of the ghoul's composure, tears leaked into Gravedigger's intense, glowing _kakugan_.

"Of course I don't _fucking_ want to eat corpses," Gravedigger confessed, startling Haise. What had Shirazu said before they'd arrived? "But it's the only thing I can _do!_ I'm not a fucking monster—I don't want to kill people!"

Urie's _koukaku_ protruded further from his shoulder with a sickening smacking sound, like ligaments stretching. Haise held out his hand, signaling for stillness. Urie stiffened but stayed back.

Gravedigger began pacing, running his hands rapidly through his hair as if to tear it out of his head. He stuttered and shook, crying now, staring at his feet as they carried him back and forth. "I—I-I-I don't want people to get hurt. . . anymore, I don't want to eat humans. I can't do _that_! I can't do _this_! I don't want to fight, I. . . I just want her _back—!_ "

There was the sound of a blade being drawn, and then there was a head rolling at Haise's feet. It's mouth was open, eye's shocked and glassy, tear tracks trailing, face frozen in an expression of astonishment. Haise felt horror creep onto his own features despite his numb attempts to quell it. His mouth gaped wordlessly and his eyes flicked up from the head to the body it had been attached to, then over to the men that stood beside it as it crumpled to the ground.

Associate Special Class Ho Hung drew a handkerchief and slid his quinque through it's soft cream folds, clearing the blood off of the blade. Silence buzzed in Haise's ears as Ho Hung raised his eyes to meet his. Ho Hung sighed through his nose.

"A shame to waste such a simple specimen," he grumbled, rubbing the fabric over his fingers for good measure. "But the way he was rambling, there was no way we could get any useful information out of him."

Haise felt anger boil under his skin, filling up his throat like a stinging bile. "Wasn't the point to _understand_ ghouls better? Would he not have given us some unique insight to the mind of a ghoul?"

Ho Hung scoffed, handing his handkerchief over to Hui Ju-long to use. "Please, First Class Sasaki, don't waste my time with notions of redemption. Ghouls aren't as deep as you would present them. Sure, we want to learn about them, but as soon as they start babbling nonsense, our main priority becomes extermination."

"He hadn't hurt anyone," Haise argued. "He'd only ever eaten buried corpses—"

"And how do you know that?" Ho Hung stepped forward, shooting a disgusted glance down at the corpse beside him as he continued. "You heard him, he 'didn't want to hurt people. . . _anymore_.'" His voice held contemptuous mockery. "He'd only just started these crimes, Sasaki. He'd undoubtedly killed and eaten multiple people before his time as the 'Gravedigger' ghoul. Don't defend him—he's a killer just like the rest of them."

Haise opened his mouth to retort. Urie gave him a sharp glance. Before Haise could talk, Ho Hung interrupted him again, a twisted smile curling his lips. "Unless, of course, you're just upset because you're one of them?" He scorned.

Haise closed his mouth, face evening out as he eased back into familiar territory. "I just don't think hypocrites should talk, is all."

He turned his back to Ho Hung and Hui Ju-long, focusing instead on his squad. Shirazu was coming around. Saiko could stand on her own now and she and Mutsuki were helping him to his feet.

"C'mon," Haise murmured, fingers shaking slightly as the adrenaline drained away. "We finished what we came for. Time to head back to Japan."

"Yes, you all go on ahead!" Ho Hung called, sounding delighted. "We'll finish up here. It was a pleasure working with you, First Class Sasaki!"

Sasaki ushered his subordinates away from the scene tiredly, voice quiet and steely. "I'm sure."

—

 ** _[Play Track 6]_**

 _—_

His name was Zao Wenhue, and her name was Ying Bao, and he relied on his sister for almost everything. She showed him how to thrive alongside humans, how to pretend to enjoy human food, how to fight defensively and offensively; she gave him everything he needed.

Food included.

Zao Wenhue couldn't hunt for himself. His sister would try to teach him, but it was the one thing he wouldn't learn. "Why should I learn?" he would reason. "You'll always be here to feed me."

"A ghoul should be independent, snowdrop." His sister would say, but she would coddle him anyway.

He attended school regularly. His sister worked to pay for his tuition, saying if she had run out of time, then at least he could get an education.

She was much older than he was, an adult already. She was his guardian, his protector, and she would do anything for him.

They weren't related by blood, but Zao Wenhue didn't know that that was a requirement. She watched over him, provided for him, kept him out of trouble and loved him just as much—what else could a sister be?

Zao Wenhue loved his sister dearly, and he truly believed that she would always be there for him. She was so strong and courageous, the epitome of a hero in his eyes. She was invincible.

It was one week before her birthday. He was eighteen, she was turning twenty-nine. He'd saved up his work money to buy her something beautiful, a summer dress she could wear when she watered the flowers in their small, potted garden arranged on the balcony of their apartment. When he grew older and could maintain a stable job, they would move into a house, and she would have a real garden in their flourishing backyard, and the sunlight would come down on her face just so, and she would be as stunning as he saw her. He'd foreseen this.

He skipped steps on his way up to the apartment, flying around corners, with his wrist slung over the railing to keep him on track. The bag in his hand jostled and jolted as he ran carelessly, desperate to get to the apartment faster, his excitement to show her the dress and the future he'd fabricated for them overwhelming.

He came to the door, fumbling with the key in his eagerness and smiling broadly at the mezereum blooming on the windowsill. Potted osmunda ferns brushed his knees as his pushed through the threshold.

"I'm home!" Zao Wenhue called, feeling lighter than air and more radiant than the sun. He spun and danced with the bag, moving into the kitchen to see if his sister was there.

On the counter beside the sink, the ends of their stems cut off to allow water to flow easier, daisies and red roses lay abandoned, water pooled around them as if they'd just been washed.

She must be outside.

He skipped to the sliding door to their balcony and opened it with a slam. "Don't open the door so loud, you'll disturb the neighbors." Is what she'll say.

He was greeted instead by a gust of wind and the silence of the outdoors. The blinds on the window shook. They were closed. No one was on the balcony.

"She's still out," he decided. He backed inside, his eyes catching on the rhododendron patch lining the building across the street. He paused and breathed, mesmerized by their glowing pink buds, pregnant with the promise of a beautiful bloom. Another breeze floated through his hair. Zao Wenhue stepped back inside.

He waited for her until night fell, and when she still wasn't back, he watered her flowers for her. He dropped her abandoned daisies and roses in a vase together. He stayed up on the couch in the entry room, watching the door more than the television. The smell of her thriving marigold was beginning to permeate the apartment.

Seven days passed. Her birthday came. She wasn't home. Zao Wenhue was fearful. Her daisies had died of neglect, but the roses were stoically hanging on to life. The marigold was unbearable. The rhododendrons were fully exposed. The world was changing quickly and dangerously. Zao Wenhue watched the television, out of fear more than the desire for a distraction.

It was the on the news on her birthday. A ghoul had been captured and locked away in Cochlea, the detainment center in Japan. She'd been found hiding away in a motel miles from her apartment. Commission of Counter Ghoul officials promised they would find her dwelling and search it thoroughly. A sour look crossed one investigator's face as he sneered, "Her final request before imprisonment is that her neighbors take care of her garden, especially her Galanthus. A real loon, this one, concerned for her flowers of all things."

Zao Wenhue felt the air leave his lungs, and he rushed to the balcony. The Galanthus nivalis, the snowdrops, his sister's favorite flowers. She said they held the most meaning to her. She said they reminded her of him. She was an expert in floriography and she taught him often, but she would never translate this one for him.

He scooped the tiny pot into his arms and held it close as he cried.

He left everything except the dress and the Galanthus and the clothes on his back.

He ran far away, many miles, a whole city. Soon he was in Shenyang and he was digging up corpses for food. He couldn't bear to see his meal as a former human. He cut the head off and took what little he could from the body. He reburied the corpses neatly and prayed for their souls, begged forgiveness and thanked them for they had given him life in their death. He left flowers the next day—agrimony and yellow roses, mostly.

His own birthday passed. He was nineteen. He lived on his own in an apartment in eastern Shenyang. He owned nothing but his clothes and the dress and the Galanthus. Often times he felt he truly owned nothing but his guilt.

"Someday," he promised one evening, staring at the Galanthus plant as it sat innocently on his windowsill, "we'll own a house. Ying Bao will have a garden in the backyard, a real one, without pots and with lots of fertilizer and tons of space to grow whatever she wants, and I'll sit on the patio chair and watch her and the sun will dapple her face just so and she'll be as beautiful as I see her. Someday, Ying Bao will water the plants in her garden with that same watering can because she'll refuse to use the hose out of fear that it will damage her gentlest blossoms, and I'll laugh and say 'Sister, they're just flowers,' and she'll look at me and say 'I know brother, but they mean something to me.' And y'know, someday they'll mean something to me too. Y'know, someday we'll sit together on that patio and just watch time pass, because we won't have to worry about whether we live or die anymore. Someday it'll be just the two of us in our house with the real garden in the real backyard and she'll be so beautiful, she'll be so radiant in this dress and she'll hold my hand and say 'Remember brother, there are much better things than what we've left behind.'"

One month passed, but it felt like a year. It was that day, one month later, that the Galanthus died.

—

 ** _{End}_**

 _—_

 _I certainly didn't intend for this to be as long as it is, nor as depressing by the end. I hope you enjoyed the epilogue._

—

 _The story of Ying Bao and Zao Wenhue is not over._

—


End file.
